to try his hand at American television and film. He only planned to do four years with the series. In the summer of 2009, Whittle joined series 7 of the BBC reality series, Strictly Come Dancing. He was paired with professional dancer Natalie Lowe. Whittle would place second after sports presenter Chris Hollins. He permanently relocated to Los Angeles in the summer of 2011 to further his career. 2012–2016: American TV breakthrough and The 100 Upon his arrival in the US, Whittle met with someone to put a reel together. The meeting led to him signing with manager Ken Jacobsen. Jacobsen has also represented James Franco, Michelle Williams and Hilary Swank. Not long after, Whittle was cast in the feature film Austenland opposite Keri Russell, Jane Seymour and Jennifer Coolidge. Whittle joked that he only booked the role because of his body as the audition tape he submitted cut off his head. He found it ironic that it filmed on location in the UK when he travelled to Los Angeles to pursue American TV projects. After that, Whittle had no problem booking gigs. However, his immigration status caused him to pull out of a few projects. Whittle was set to film an episode of the NBC sitcom Up All Night when his management contacted him the night before to inform him that the network wouldn't accept his visa. After this incident, Whittle decided to apply for his green card. In March 2012, it was announced that Whittle was cast in the recurring role of Charles, a love interest of Denise Vasi's character, in the second season of the VH1 comedic-drama Single Ladies. Whittle submitted his audition tape just as he returned to the UK for Christmas. While he was too young for the role he initially auditioned for, the producers found another role for him. Whittle was initially supposed to appear in two episodes, and that turned into six. However, Whittle made such an impression on producer Stacy A. Littlejohn that she wrote him into the rest of the season. Whittle filmed the series in Atlanta from January to June 2012. In 2013, Whittle appeared in an episode of the CBS drama NCIS, "Detour." In 2014, Whittle joined the cast of The CW's post-apocalyptic drama The 100 in the role of Lincoln. On 25 July 2014, at San Diego Comic-Con, it was announced that Whittle had been promoted to series